Tips for Tax Filing Procrastinators

LOS ANGELES, CA -- For many, delaying the inevitable is just part of the tax filing process.

Whichever path you take -- pay early or at the last minute -- tax professionals want to make sure you take advantage of every single opportunity to reduce your tax burden.

Here what one certified public accountant suggests in the video news story on this web page.

Remember: Tax day is April 15th, and the limits are higher this year.

The IRS also has a few breaks this year resulting from the Obama administration stimulus plan called the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

People who buy a house for the first time in 2009, or who buy after not owning for three years, get a huge tax credit.

If the purchase is made before April 15th the credit can apply to your 2008 taxes.

If not, you'll get it next year.

Another change affects people facing foreclosure or people who may have lost their jobs.

In the past if a bank renegotiated your loan or a credit card company agreed to reduce your debt, what you saved was considered income.

Not this year.

But you do have to report whatever debt was forgiven on a specific form.

There's one final change that last-minute filers will appreciate: The likelihood of shorter lines at the post office thanks to E-filing; filing on-line.